26/10/2016 : While this post was written more than a year ago (read the following paragraph), we felt there was no harm posting this up because upon reading it again 1 year later (again, to be explained in the next paragraph), our views have not remained unchanged. We swapped out some items we felt didn’t live up to expectations and replaced them with certain items we have been using and love.
We (not so) recently (this human has been suffering from Lazybone Syndrome – A chronic, debilitating illness, I swear) reached 10,000 friends on Instagram. And as a thank you for all the love and support, we hosted a #10kWithCotton Giveaway. While it was ultra fun seeing all the super innovative pictures from many of our Singaporean friends, the best part was perhaps sniffing out, pun intended, the goodies for the winners (and the everyday dog owner)!
Apart from the picks from the giveaway, we have also included some items we found along the way that we really love. These items may or may not have been sponsored, but opinions are of course strictly ours. 🙂
Our Top TEN picks:
1. Food: Primal FreezeDried Raw Pet Food
If you have been following us, you would know we absolutely love Primal Pet Food Products. Finding a food that a picky eater would eat is hard enough, but knowing said food is one of the leading brands for raw food is a gigantic plus. It’s been nearly 6 months (Update as of October 2016: ~15 months) since we switched Cotton over to primal pet foods, and of course, no regrets! Affordable, Convenient and Healthy for our precious pooches, what more could one ask for? 😉 They also have a treats line – The only thing we can ask for is “More!”.
2. Dental Health: Proden PlaqueOff
With Cotton being an estimated 4 years of age, it’s about due time she went for a dental scaling. With the risk involved with general anaesthesia and the added uncertainty due her history of seizures, it’s no wonder we have been delaying the inevitable. We have always been looking for dental products that actually work, hence after being recommended by Lucky the Yorkie to try Proden Plaqueoff, we are so happy to say it really does work!
According to what we have read, Plaqueoff works from inside out – the “specially selected seaweed” naturally loosens plaque and tartar that has formed on your pet’s (that’s right, for dogs AND cats) teeth. It sadly doesn’t seem to work on teeth already affected by periodontal disease, but it does slow down the rate it progresses. Cotton with her grade 1 periodontal disease will be off to the vet’s office soon, so wish her luck! (update October’16: Cotton went for her dental scaling couple months back and everything went smoothly, thank God!)
Although each little bottle goes at ~SGD40 a pop, they really do last for quite a bit as the scoop provided is really minute. It contains natural iodine so do follow the recommended daily dosage – For Cotton at 4.8kg, she takes slightly less than 1/2 scoop daily.
3. Dental Maintenance: Tropiclean Fresh Breath Teeth Gel (get yours at kohepets.com.sg)
Although we have always noticed Tropiclean’s line of dental maintenance products in pet shops, we have never tried them due to uncertainty of their effectiveness. During Pet Expo 2015, our friend Waffle the Corgi recommended us Tropiclean’s dental water additive which has been keeping Waffle’s breath all fresh and kissable! Although we have yet to try this product due to Cotton not particularly liking teeth cleaning, from its reviews, it does seem to help maintain oral hygiene in dogs.
4. Grooming: Yu Shampoo (get yours at kohepets.com.sg)
Looking into Cotton’s grooming cabinet, I see 8 bottles of shampoo. *sigh* Some caused her fur to matt up, hence we stopped using it, while other weren’t as effective despite many positive reviews. Similarly with the human hair, not all shampoos will suit all dogs. The leading brand for Malteses according to MalteseOnly Forum doesn’t work on this supposed Maltese.
However, Yu Shampoo really did satisfy all our requirements in a shampoo. It doesn’t contain harsh chemicals, conversely containing many beneficial oriental herbs, made Cotton’s fur soft and fluffy (fluffy to the point of looking morbidly obese :P) and the smell lingered for a few days. She didn’t show any signs of itchiness or irritation from the shampoo. Reading through our friends’ reviews also show that this shampoo can help with dogs plagued with sensitive skin issues. Although Yu doesn’t have a rinse off conditioner yet, we especially love the leave in conditioner – It makes Cotton’s hair so much silkier.
Also, repeated use of this product (3 times to be exact) in a week didn’t dry out Cotton’s coat. With this little monster diving into the pond and drying off in the grass, we are thankful Yu cleans her hair well while conditioning the coat. (Update Oct’16: We are still using Yu Shampoo and we really really love it!)
5. Fashion: Bespoke Dog portrait bag
Our friend, grumpy Cooper’s mama was so kind to help us get these bags from Penang. At only RM40, it’s quality finish (waterproof lining inside too) really seals the deal. We have been bringing this bag out for our outings and the best part – Cotton fits into her “Cotton” bag!
Fret not if you don’t frequent Penang, this artist ships internationally. You can find more about him here.
6. Fun: Interactive Toys and Puzzles: Kong Wobbler and Nina Ottosson’s range of toys
Cotton, being a lap dog, doesn’t quite have the inclination to play with regular toys except during the occasional burst of energy once a day. It can be quite sad and boring not having anything to do while the humans are out and about, hence we started looking into interactive toys and puzzles that can keep Cotton occupied throughout the day. Our favourite treats dispensing toy would be the Kong Wobbler and Nina Ottosson’s Dog Casino (Read our review for 5 interactive toys here).
As international shipping can be costly and trying to hit USD150 to be eligible for free shipping on Amazon can be tough, certain shops do sell them and one of which is Kohepets. Though the price is steeper, your pup gets his new toy much sooner and you can be assured of its quality!
7. Cleaniness: BioWillClear Odour Removing Sanitising Spray from Moeru.co
Many pawparents can attest that cleaning dog pee or dog poop is no easy feat, especially when the accidents happens a distance from the pee tray. Cotton has punished us a few times with her “revenge accidents” as we have dubbed it – due to the many times she has decided to poop or pee at a place she knows she’s not supposed to do her business at, coincidentally only when we leave her alone at home.
Initially when Jane from Moeru.co introduced me to this product, I was indifferent about it, thinking it was just another cleaning product. But upon further usage, I realised apart from deodorising her pee areas, it made cleaning so much easier. It left no sticky residue after cleaning (many other products we have tried left a slight smudge or a residue behind that had to be cleaned again by a wet cloth), and it seems whatever pee “fragrance” was completely eliminated as Cotton didn’t pee at that same spot again. It can also be used after walks as it destroys 99% of virus, fungal and bacteria activity, or to be sprayed in your dog’s common sleeping area or your car after an outing.
We would really highly recommend this product to any pawparent 1) toilet training their dog, 2) having trouble getting your dog to stop peeing at a spot he isn’t supposed to pee at (due to pee smell seeping into the floor) or 3) need an efficient deodoriser/sanitiser for everyday use.
Moeru.co also imports many other useful items from Japan for pets, do take a look at their website for more info!
8. Toiletries: My Potty Pad Peepads
Although Peepads can be easily bought from many places, with brands or without, having tried many varieties over the past 3 years, we have to say that thus far, My Potty Pad peepads are really competitive and outstanding. Being 4x more absorbent and 100% leak proof, you could use it with or without a pee tray with the ease of mind that there will not be leakage. Even when we did not change Cotton’s peepad for a day or two, there was hardly any to no smell at all.
Other brands – though they manage to serve the basic function of “capturing” the pee, they did not do much in terms of odour or being leakproof. In fact, when we used another brand’s pee pad without a pee tray, it actually seeped into our parquet flooring and left a horribly noticeable and ugly stain!
Currently the pee pads are on sale (buy3, 1 free) at Kohepets!
9. Treats: Dehydrator for both humans and dogs
Although dehydrated treats do not have to be exclusively made by a dehydrator (read more on how to do this, here), a dehydrator is definitely one of the top items I would recommend to any dog owner. Fruits, meats or vegetables can be made into yummy treats in a span of 12hours. They can be given rather freely without fear of scares (like in the case of China made jerky), and there is no need for preservatives or chemicals. In fact, we love to make treats that hide pieces of vegetables to get this fussy Cotton to eat them easily.
Read here on some treats you can make with a dehydrator, although honestly, the assortment of treats you can make is nearly limitless!
However, if investing upwards of $80-$600 for a dehydrator isn’t in your budget, you can always buy dehydrated treats from other pawparents who share this service. After doing a price comparison, I found that surprisingly (and if you dare), there are many Carousellers who sell dehydrated treats at really affordable prices, much lower than any online dog bakeries 🙂
10. Sleep: SnoozeForPooch’s Rubber Duckie Bed and Teepees
Although pet beds can come cheap, quality is usually on par with price and that can definitely be said for the beds and teepees from SnoozeForPooch. Although pricey, we can really vouch for the firmness and durability of their beds. Having had the rubber duckie bed for about 3 months, it still feels almost brand new and Cotton loves to drag her bones and treats there to enjoy 😉
Special runner-up mention:
After completing a whole bottle of Optimus Pets plant based whole food “supplement”, there wasn’t much visible effect, hence the reason why we feel we aren’t able to say it’s a must-have for pet owners. However, for many others, optimus pets have indeed increased their pets’ standard of living and their stories are indeed very impressive.
According to their website, “Optimus Pet is a plant-based whole food product that provides Nature’s ultimate nutrition for your beloved pet animals, improving their health, promoting longevity and helping them achieve the highest quality of life.”
Do head to their website for more info!
Shoutout: A big thank you to the companies who supported Cotton’s 10k Giveaway: B2k Pet Products, Kohepets, Jerhigh Singapore, Barking Good and Feed My Paws. Also, congratulations to our 3 lucky winners – Ashley the BC, Peanut the Lab and Jack the JRT!
Give them all a woof and share with us what is your favourite pet product! :]
With Love,
Cotton and Jamie
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